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Committee begins planning for senior space as rec center contract approaches 2032 end
Summary
Committee members urged earlier planning for senior facilities and staff said the Victoria Recreation Center's joint-powers contract with the Eastern Carver County School District is due to end in 2032; staff identified underutilized locker rooms as near-term repurposing options but warned conversion would need engineering work.
Committee members pressed staff on plans for senior programming and facilities during the Victoria Senior Advisory Committee’s monthly meeting.
"I've lived right across the street from where the new fire station is being built... If we're looking 6 to 7 years down the road to get some kind of facility for the senior population in the community, we need to get going," a committee member said, urging the group to accelerate planning.
Assistant City Manager Alyssa Nelson responded that the committee’s concerns are timely and tied to the Victoria Recreation Center contract with the Eastern Carver County School District. "The contract will eventually go away 2032," she said, adding that when the contract ends the city would gain greater control of the facility and face decisions about how to operate and fund it. Nelson said staff began facility planning via a 2019 space-needs study adopted in 2020 and that it can take several years to bring a major project to fruition.
Nelson described several paths the city might take: continue operating two ice sheets and seek partners to rent ice time, repurpose underutilized areas for senior activities, or pursue other uses depending on council direction and funding. She identified the large locker rooms as "the top underutilized space in our facility" and said repurposing them would likely require architectural and engineering work because of their cement-block construction.
Committee members compared Victoria to neighboring communities with more developed senior programming and asked whether a senior center should be a new building or a reimagined part of existing facilities. Nelson said the council has signaled a preference to use existing building spaces rather than immediately building a new facility, and that the committee should prepare recommendations to present to council after the council’s workshop on the rec center.
Staff also noted the 2050 comprehensive plan process and upcoming public engagement opportunities (a June 17 informational session) that will help shape long-range decisions about facilities and services.
Next steps identified in the meeting included continuing to gather information, tracking the council workshop outcomes, and plotting senior-space work on the committee’s multi-year work plan.
